I'm doing bidirectional science popularization in American comics

Chapter 340 Metropolis (4)

The metropolitan area is located in Delaware on the east coast of the United States.

This area has a subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons, characterized by hot summers and mild winters.

Even in the coldest part of winter, the temperature rarely drops below zero.

Compared to Gotham, Metropolis, while equally developed, is full of sunshine and hope.

On the dozens of stories high, the deep blue glass walls reflect the sunlight, but cannot stop the busy and fulfilled people.

Amidst towering buildings, pedestrians come and go on the streets.

Whether it was these towering skyscrapers or the stylishly dressed men and women, they all broadened the horizons of a poor boy who had come from the countryside.

Clark, carrying his suitcase, looked up at the tall buildings around him and suddenly felt a little lost.

However, he quickly sorted out his thoughts and took the first step to settle down in the metropolis.

Find a cheap apartment that's cheap enough!

Looking at the rows of rental listings on the real estate agency wall, Clark couldn't help but shake his head.

These houses are all too expensive; even the cheapest single room is far beyond his budget.

This gave Clark, who came from a small town, a completely new and shocking understanding of the prices and rents in metropolitan cities.

At the same time, another question arose in his mind.

"How much would Batman's Batcave cost, given its massive size?"

As Clark walked out of the real estate agency dejectedly, he was immediately grabbed by the arm by a homeless man in a tattered jacket.

The man was thin, wearing a brown knitted hat, a dark brown jacket that looked like it had never been washed, a pair of faded jeans, and tattered Doc Martens boots.

"Hey bro, are you looking for a cheap place?"

After pulling hard several times and finding that Clark didn't budge, the man asked mysteriously.

Clark frowned upon hearing this; the smell emanating from this man was truly unbearable for him.

“I don’t think I’m interested in being your roommate at all,” Clark said, swatting the homeless man’s hand away. “Maybe if I look at a few more places, I’ll find a suitable place.”

Upon hearing this, the homeless man gave an awkward smile, held up his left finger, and grinned, revealing his large yellow teeth, saying, "Fifty dollars a month, single room, utilities and internet included!"

"Elbow, show me this."

Clark answered without hesitation.

Compared to the guy's unpleasant smell, the allure of the cheap rent was clearly greater.

The homeless man then led Clark across more than a dozen blocks, and it took them a full two hours to reach the place the homeless man had described.

It was a cluster of buildings stretching like a mountain, resembling a crouching giant under the sunlight.

These buildings are not very tall, with most having a maximum height of ten stories.

Furthermore, this place is completely different from the metropolitan business district we just visited.

Many emaciated people huddled in dirty bedding in front of the building entrance, with syringes beside them.

Several stray dogs ran past the two of them, each carrying what appeared to be a finger in its mouth.

"This area looks somewhat similar to the area where Johnny Depp's antique shop is located in Gotham..."

"I think that place is called Naihe Island?"

Clark frowned and muttered to himself, but showed no sign of backing down.

Since he's going to start his superhero journey in Metropolis, this kind of place is obviously more suitable for him.

After all, robbery and shootings are happening all around us, so we can definitely stop these crimes more quickly.

“But I really didn’t expect that behind the glamorous backdrop of the Metropolis, there would be such a wretched corner,” Clark said.

"What did you say?" the homeless man asked.

Clark glanced down at the guy, and after confirming that he wasn't hiding any weapon, asked, "So, which floor is the apartment you want to rent on?"

The homeless man smiled awkwardly and said, "It's just ahead, just ahead."

Upon hearing this, Clark took out the glasses that Depp had given him from his bag, put them on, and immediately used the facial adjustment function.

The homeless man looked at Clark and suddenly felt that the young man seemed a little different from before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Soon, the homeless man stopped in front of the thirteen buildings.

“The room is on the eighth floor of this building,” the homeless man said. “Come with me.”

Clark followed the homeless man to the eighth floor, where the man pulled out a bunch of keys and searched carefully for a while before finally finding the one that belonged to this room.

Upon opening the dilapidated door, a musty smell wafted out.

Clark walked into the house, which was quite retro and old-fashioned. Compared to the metropolis, or even his own home in Smallville, it was an antique!

Besides a bed, a desk, a makeshift clothes rack made of iron, and a piece of burlap draped over the rack, there was nothing else inside.

There's no refrigerator, no washing machine, not even a stove...

The homeless man stood on tiptoe, patted Clark on the shoulder, then held out his hand and said, "Fifty dollars a month, no credit."

Clark looked around the house, finally sighed helplessly, took fifty dollars from his shirt pocket, and put it in the homeless man's hand.

The homeless man then tossed the keys to Clark and left the room.

Before closing the door, the homeless man said kindly, "Young man, I advise you not to go out after 10 p.m. If you are out then, it's best not to come back. You've seen this place; it's not as safe as you think."

"Thank you so much, I didn't expect you to be such a kind guy," Clark said gratefully.

But the homeless man just chuckled coldly and said, "Kindness? I just hope I can get another fifty dollars from you next month."

After saying that, the homeless man slammed the door shut and left.

Clark looked at the dusty room, took a deep breath, and then exhaled sharply.

In an instant, Clark blew the dust out of the entire room through the rickety window.

With all the dust blown out of the room, the house became much cleaner and tidier.

After all, the room was quite empty; a thorough cleaning would make it very tidy.

However, the only downside was that the already precarious window, under Clark's blow, finally couldn't bear its own weight and fell down with a thud.

Soon, curses and swearing echoed downstairs.

Clark ignored him, because he had already seen the guy cursing him through his X-ray vision.

The guy wasn't injured at all; he was just awakened by the falling window.

After blowing away the dust, Clark picked up the linen from the hanger, washed it, and immediately became a whirlwind, bustling around the house.

Ten seconds later, the clothes racks in the entire room underwent a dramatic transformation thanks to Clark's efforts.

Everything was wiped clean and looked brand new. As for the burlap sack, Clark simply threw it into the public trash can by the door.

After cleaning the house, Clark left the room and went to the nearest supermarket.

He needs to buy a lot of things, most of which are daily necessities and some of his favorite foods.

When shopping at the supermarket, Clark did not use his superpowers; he carefully selected items like an ordinary person.

This was a feeling he had never experienced before; the supermarkets in the small town were completely different from those in the metropolis.

Everything here felt new and interesting to Clark.

Even the most ordinary supermarket shopping can keep Clark smiling.

After finishing his shopping, Clark walked out of the supermarket and into a deserted alley, watched by the cashier.

He looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, then leaped up and flew towards his new home.

Although Clark can only fly for short periods now, it's more than enough for the distance between the city center and his rental apartment.

During the flight, Clark looked at the streets and pedestrians flashing by below and said, "Wow, I didn't expect that there would be people in the metropolis using the same kind of suitcase as me!"

After flying a short distance further, Clark frowned, realizing that things were not so simple.

"That just now looked like... my suitcase!"

Clark immediately changed direction and flew back to where he had found the suitcase.

In a dark alley in the metropolis, a few shifty-looking men opened Clark's suitcase and threw its contents everywhere.

The bald man in the lead looked angry and said, "What the hell is this bad luck? How come this kid is so poor?"

"Exactly!" another guy next to him exclaimed. "And the clothes inside are all so tacky, it's unbelievable. Did this kid escape from some remote mountain village?"

"Hey!" The bald man's eyes lit up as he picked up a piece of clothing from his suitcase and said, "This clothing looks like it's made of some unusual material; it should be worth some money!"

But the next second, the red and blue clothes in his hand vanished instantly, and then a voice rang out from behind them: "Didn't your mothers tell you that stealing is a bad thing?"

The bald man and his henchmen looked up and saw Clark in a Superman costume.

"Stop minding your own business and get the hell out of here!" the bald man said. "John, go punch him."

"Good boss!"

The guy called John strode up to Clark, raised his fist, and slammed it into Clark's chin: "Take this! You think you're Superman just because you're wearing a Superman cosplay costume?"

Clark remained unmoved; the punch had no effect on him whatsoever.

Seeing this, John frowned and said, "Boss, something's not right with this kid!"

As he spoke, he took out the dagger hidden in his bosom and forcefully stabbed it into Clark's heart.

Clark's eyes gleamed crimson, and a beam of heat shot towards John's thrusting dagger.

The dagger, made of ordinary metal, could not withstand the heat rays and turned into molten iron in an instant.

Upon witnessing this scene, John froze on the spot, trembling all over.

This was a scene he had never witnessed before; it seemed he had offended a truly formidable individual.

Looking at Clark's uniform and the heat rays he had just witnessed, John suddenly thought of something terrible.

He turned around and said to the bald man behind him, "Boss... Boss, it seems like we're in big trouble?"

"John, you idiot, what's wrong now?" the bald man said angrily, still searching through Clark's suitcase for the expensive-looking dress.